General Questions
What's a Hackathon?
"Hackathons provide a venue for self-expression and creativity through technology. People with technical backgrounds come together, form teams around a problem or idea, and collaboratively code a unique solution from scratch — these generally take shape in the form of websites, mobile apps, and robots...To sum it up, at a hackathon, people come together and use technology to transform ideas into reality." Medium: WTF is a hackathon?
You'll find some other great writeups at Hackathons are taking the world by storm, Hackathons - The Golden value proposition and The eight kinds of Projects you meet at a hackathon.
What's the event Format?
Our event kicks off on Friday night, with people pitching the idea that they'd like to build on over the weekend - the most attractive ideas act as a honeypot for talent. Teams then form around the idea based on alignment with their interests/passions and work together over Fri night/Sat/Sun morning to build their concept, with entries submitted midday Sunday and pitch practice allowed before final pitches Sunday afternoon. Judging is then done against our published judging criteria and awarded late Sunday afternoon. We will have roaming mentors experienced in Startups, Business, Technology, Datasets + Hackathons along with senior software developer resources available on the Sat morning to assist teams with their concept.
What's been done like this before?
Locally, we've had the 2015 Startup Weekend Central Coast, then Hacking HealthTech and HunterHackFest in 2016 to stimulate local innovation and startup activity, connecting teams and talents on focussed event challenges. We've seen events like this create near-fundable business opportunities by the end of the weekend, with winning teams eligible for more formal business incubation or going on to bigger world hackathon challenges. We want to provide options for the next wave of innovative entrepreneurs from the region to experience, learn + leverage cutting edge technology platforms, whilst also tackling local challenges and creating new, tech enabled experiences.
Hackathons are a proven innovation + disruption model that can accelerate the delivery of new technical solutions to stubborn problems, whilst also creating new economic value, innovations and fundable businesses in a short experimentation + teaming cycle.
Why Lake Macquarie? Why Now?
More than just the Lake at its heart, Lake Macquarie City is a driving force in the largest regional economy in Australia. With a diversity of industry and assets that many regions strive to create, the region has received significant investment of more than $500 million. The investment will fund infrastructure and innovation projects will provide a fertile environment for business, globally scalable start-ups, and export oriented innovators seeking growth and stability.
Key Strengths include:
How can we help Lake Mac grow into the future?
Lake Macquarie City has a unique geography that strings together communities around nine town centres circling the lake itself – an area twice the size of Sydney Harbour. This presents transport challenges but also opportunities for innovative solutions. Many trips already occur within town centres via a mix of transport modes - car, walking, cycling, mobility scooters, bus and ride-sharing. Most trips between town centres and neighbouring areas are made by cars, trains and buses.
Around 25,000 more people are expected to call Lake Macquarie home over the next 20 years, taking the City’s population to around a quarter of a million people. The City is part of the Hunter region of New South Wales, which has the largest share of both regional population and regional employment and is located in the State’s fastest growing corridor – from the northern edge of Sydney to Newcastle. The projected population along this corridor is estimated to be 1.1 million by 2036. The State Government has prepared a regional plan for the Hunter and a Future Transport Technology Roadmap for New South Wales.
Projecting these trends into the future, is this transport system sustainable? How will this impact our lives? How will technological developments like the autonomous vehicle impact these trends? How can we make our transport system better but also adaptable for the future?
"Hackathons provide a venue for self-expression and creativity through technology. People with technical backgrounds come together, form teams around a problem or idea, and collaboratively code a unique solution from scratch — these generally take shape in the form of websites, mobile apps, and robots...To sum it up, at a hackathon, people come together and use technology to transform ideas into reality." Medium: WTF is a hackathon?
You'll find some other great writeups at Hackathons are taking the world by storm, Hackathons - The Golden value proposition and The eight kinds of Projects you meet at a hackathon.
What's the event Format?
Our event kicks off on Friday night, with people pitching the idea that they'd like to build on over the weekend - the most attractive ideas act as a honeypot for talent. Teams then form around the idea based on alignment with their interests/passions and work together over Fri night/Sat/Sun morning to build their concept, with entries submitted midday Sunday and pitch practice allowed before final pitches Sunday afternoon. Judging is then done against our published judging criteria and awarded late Sunday afternoon. We will have roaming mentors experienced in Startups, Business, Technology, Datasets + Hackathons along with senior software developer resources available on the Sat morning to assist teams with their concept.
What's been done like this before?
Locally, we've had the 2015 Startup Weekend Central Coast, then Hacking HealthTech and HunterHackFest in 2016 to stimulate local innovation and startup activity, connecting teams and talents on focussed event challenges. We've seen events like this create near-fundable business opportunities by the end of the weekend, with winning teams eligible for more formal business incubation or going on to bigger world hackathon challenges. We want to provide options for the next wave of innovative entrepreneurs from the region to experience, learn + leverage cutting edge technology platforms, whilst also tackling local challenges and creating new, tech enabled experiences.
Hackathons are a proven innovation + disruption model that can accelerate the delivery of new technical solutions to stubborn problems, whilst also creating new economic value, innovations and fundable businesses in a short experimentation + teaming cycle.
Why Lake Macquarie? Why Now?
More than just the Lake at its heart, Lake Macquarie City is a driving force in the largest regional economy in Australia. With a diversity of industry and assets that many regions strive to create, the region has received significant investment of more than $500 million. The investment will fund infrastructure and innovation projects will provide a fertile environment for business, globally scalable start-ups, and export oriented innovators seeking growth and stability.
Key Strengths include:
- Proximity and accessibility to Sydney and Newcastle CBD
- Accessibility to the Greater Hunter Region and Central Coast
- Scale - more than 2million residents within 90min drive.
- Rapidly expanding residential and commercial construction
- Diversity - Opportunities for growth in construction, start-ups & technology, heavy engineering, resources, agribusiness, education, health care, Defence & aerospace, and tourism.
How can we help Lake Mac grow into the future?
Lake Macquarie City has a unique geography that strings together communities around nine town centres circling the lake itself – an area twice the size of Sydney Harbour. This presents transport challenges but also opportunities for innovative solutions. Many trips already occur within town centres via a mix of transport modes - car, walking, cycling, mobility scooters, bus and ride-sharing. Most trips between town centres and neighbouring areas are made by cars, trains and buses.
Around 25,000 more people are expected to call Lake Macquarie home over the next 20 years, taking the City’s population to around a quarter of a million people. The City is part of the Hunter region of New South Wales, which has the largest share of both regional population and regional employment and is located in the State’s fastest growing corridor – from the northern edge of Sydney to Newcastle. The projected population along this corridor is estimated to be 1.1 million by 2036. The State Government has prepared a regional plan for the Hunter and a Future Transport Technology Roadmap for New South Wales.
Projecting these trends into the future, is this transport system sustainable? How will this impact our lives? How will technological developments like the autonomous vehicle impact these trends? How can we make our transport system better but also adaptable for the future?
What's the Hacker, Hustler, Hipster thing? Which one am I?
The 3H team model is a pattern used in Hackathons to get the ideal mix of team skills, based on what Forbes Magazine identify as the 'dream team' mix:
“The Hipster: Usually working their way into the mix as the designer or creative genius, they'll make sure the final product is cooler than anything else out there. But, not only that, they'll ensure the shade of blue used to accent the font really brings out the subtle homage to an artist from the '70's you've probably never heard of.
The Hacker: The one most likely to sit quietly through a board meeting until uttering the three sentences that answers the all important question of "how?" the new idea or initiative can be brought into reality. Resembling MacGyver with their ability to wield various lines of code or programing languages, you'll get dizzy trying to keep up with their keystrokes.
The Hustler: They have the tendency to be the most misunderstood member of this trio. The Hipster is likely to accuse the Hustler of having sold out to the man because of their constant question of "It's cool, but is it something our partners and clients want?" The Hacker is likely to do their best to avoid one on one conversations with the Hustler as a result of jock vs. geek episode back in high school.
Don't let the terminology turn you off though - the reality is that many of us have all 3 of these traits to a certain degree and participation in a Hackathon is a great way to draw on your skills, extend them and learn new things. Hackathons are a great way for students to test + consolidate their skills whilst working as part of a team - Hackers aren't just coders, but can also comprise engineering, manufacturing, urban planning skills that provide subject matter depth and address the questions of "How". Importantly, teams need to have an understanding of the problems they're trying to solve and that's something any member of a community will have a perspective on. Teams can also use a range of engagement tools during the event to reach out to the broader LakeMac community with their concepts, from on-street interviews to remote interaction with online survey tools.
Do I need a team to enter?
No. There are occasions when people turn up to events like this with a fully formed team and an idea that they want to work on, but part of the fun of the event is hearing strangers pitch a compelling idea on opening night, forming a diverse team and working together over the course of the event. It's a bit like innovation speed dating, where you have a chance to learn more about each other through the pressure cooker of a joint project. We've seen teams and businesses form off the back of events like this. Similarly, mentors attending the event get exposure to your talents and can lead to surprising outcomes, including job offers for great talent, or an invitation to come and help them develop a new technology that you might use during the event.
Datasets
What data is available for participants to draw on?
Transport data comes in many different forms – journeys to work, trips to the shops, vehicle kilometres travelled, train patronage, bicycle counts, etc. While the hackathon is transport themed, your idea might lead you to draw on non-transport related datasets, such as health information. We’re compiling a list of datasets you'll find helpful as you plan your pitch and concept.
Transport data comes in many different forms – journeys to work, trips to the shops, vehicle kilometres travelled, train patronage, bicycle counts, etc. While the hackathon is transport themed, your idea might lead you to draw on non-transport related datasets, such as health information. We’re compiling a list of datasets you'll find helpful as you plan your pitch and concept.
Tech Questions
Event Format
What are the requirements?
Full details will be announced at the start of the event. As a guideline, we will be looking for evidence of:
What are the Judging Criteria?
Full details will be announced at the start of the event. As a guideline, we will be looking for evidence of:
- Market assessment
- Need targeted
- Market validation
- Proof of concept (wireframes/sketches/screen flow)
- Evidence of collaboration activity within the team
- API or Framework leverage
What are the Judging Criteria?
- Collaboration Transparency
The teams collaboration efforts are visible in a digital footprint within their chosen collaboration platform, showing how they've used digital tools to shape and build their entry. - Lake Mac Hack theme alignment
The teams entry must align with one of the published challenge topics, announced closer to the event - Team Diversity
Teams need to show evidence of diversity and multi-disciplinarity in their composition. - 4C Impact
The teams entry achieves balance across our 4C Focus: Connectedness, Community benefit, Creativity and Cutting Edge technology
Got more questions?
Let us know by asking on Twitter @laughingmind or with the Event Hashtag: #LakeMacHack and we'll do our best to get them posted here.